


It's a Long Story

by SleepyxAsh



Category: Servamp (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Hyde is a torment, Kuro is secretive, Licht keeps him on a leash, M/M, Mahiru is nosey, Mystery, Sakuya is such a dork
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-20
Updated: 2017-04-05
Packaged: 2018-08-23 15:32:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8332945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SleepyxAsh/pseuds/SleepyxAsh
Summary: Mahiru Shirota is a normal guy going for a normal major at C3 University (I know it's unoriginal, but I tried). He likes to keep things simple. That means helping out his childish friends, who always seem to need him as a chaperone for something, instead of getting his work completed. His life becomes a lot more complicated when his friend moves out of their apartment, leaving a vacancy that is filled by a certain lazy guy with blue hair and a sarcastic attitude that he can tell is in place to mask some sort of pain.Sleepy Ash, who prefers to go by the name Kuro, is forced to move into an on campus apartment after bad circumstances with his old roommates. He prefers a calm environment so that he can sleep his life away and forget his mistakes. So when he has to move in with Mahiru Shirota, he does not get his wish. Except there's something about this boy that makes him feel something besides apathy again. Maybe it's the way that his brown eyes sparkle when he's happy, or the attitude he gets when he's aggravated. Or maybe it's the way that Kuro can tell that he's hiding something from him. Something that he wants to figure out.





	1. The New Guy

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone that dropped by! This is my newest work. I've been itching to try out this idea for a while now, and I can't wait any longer on it! I know that this chapter is short, and I'm sorry. I'll get more into depth by the next one and the plot line will be a bit clearer. Anyways, I hope that you all like it.

Mahiru looked down at the exam that he had just received from his biology lecture. It had a fat 50% on the front that was seriously starting to bug him. It was his fault that he had gotten such a bad grade, but it wasn't anything that he would have been able to fix. He had been tutoring his friend, Sakuya in math for nearly the entire night before his exam, and before that Licht had needed him to go to a recital and tell him if his _stalker_ was in the theater. In other words, he'd been needed.

Of course, he could have told them that he had to do something else and was too busy to help, but that was not Mahiru's philosophy. He wouldn't just push responsibilities off on someone else. It was simpler to just to it himself. That was Mahiru. He liked to keep things simple.

He sighed as he looked up at his professor. Dr. Yoshimura was telling them something about the different building blocks of life that the majority of the class had missed on the examination. Even though he was almost certain that he'd been in that percentage as well considering his score, Mahiru had a hard time concentrating on his work. Indignation was running through him at the grade that he had gotten. He knew that he deserved the grade because he hadn't put in any effort toward his biology class in a couple of weeks, but it still stung.

He made a silent promise to himself that he wouldn't allow this to happen again. He would study even if it meant pulling more than one all-nighter in a row.

 

He sighed as he finally pushed through the large double-doors that led into the apartment complex that he stayed in on his college campus. He walked down the hallway and made it to his door in almost no time, thanking the staff for putting him and his roommates on the bottom floor.

There was a note taped to front door with his name scrawled on the front of it. Sighing, he snatched the thing off the wood and unfolded it to read what was inside.

_Mr. Shirota,_

_Due to personal reasons, the attendant of B102C has moved out. Another student, Sleepy Ash, is coming in to take_ _his place. Please come by at 1:00 PM today to meet him and show him around the campus._

_Housing._

"Sleepy Ash," Mahiru muttered to himself with a small frown. "What kind of name is _that?"_

He looked down at his watch and sighed. It was already twelve thirty. He pulled his keys out and unlocked the door. He stepped inside and looked around his apartment, wondering if one of the other guys was home. The small living room looked untouched and there was nothing out on the grey countertops of the kitchen. He just shrugged to himself as he slung his bag on to the back of one of the chairs. He would simply put it away when he got back from giving the new guy a tour.

 

He rushed out of the room and back down the hallway. It was a bit of a walk from his apartment to the housing office, but it wasn’t too bad. He shivered a little at the wind, noting with dismay that the jacket that he had on was not warm enough for the steadily dropping temperature. He grimaced at the thought; he had no money to buy another coat. He was working as much as he could on campus just to make ends meet, but it wasn’t enough to splurge on anything, like a nice new coat.

“Thank god,” Mahiru muttered to himself as he walked through the glass doors of the housing office. Heat enveloped him in a tight embrace, and immediately set him at ease. He rubbed his hands against his arms, trying to speed up the process of thawing out his skin.

“Ah, Mahiru!”

He looked up and saw Sakuya, his tall, green haired friend beaming at him from behind the large countertop. His grin was a crooked one as he pointed to one of the many seats that were scattered around the large area. It was occupied by a man in a wool blue jacket that nearly matched the color of his hair. His facial expression was so blank that Mahiru couldn’t tell if he looked bored or tired.

“That’s our new roomie,” Sakuya said. “Sleep Ash.”

“Just call me Kuro,” the man sighed, looking at Sakuya in annoyance. “I already told you that.”

“Kuro?” Mahiru said curiously. “Why Kuro? That just means black.”

Kuro waved off the question. “Just go with it. It’s a long and exhausting story.”

“That’s fine with me,” Mahiru shrugged. “So, are you ready to look around the campus?”

“Sure,” Kuro sighed as he pushed himself off the couch. “Where do we start?”

“Well,” Mahiru said. “If you want, we can go to our apartment and get your things put away.”

“Already taken care of,” Kuro shrugged. “I put everything up when you were in class.”

“Then why did you come all the way over here again?” Mahiru questioned.

“I had to take care of some things,” Kuro replied. “It doesn’t matter. Just show me around so I can go and take a nap.”

“Okay,” Mahiru said, already getting the vibe that he wasn’t going to enjoy having to live next to the obviously lazy person. “You could try and show a little enthusiasm. It’s not that bad here. Trust me when I say that it could be a lot worse.”

“Whatever,” Kuro muttered. “Let’s just go.”

As Kuro shuffled out of the room, Mahiru turned around to look at Sakuya who was smirking at him, as though telling him _good luck. You’re going to need it._

Mahiru smiled weakly at him as he turned around to follow the mopey bluenette out of the office. It would be fine. He would just show Kuro around to all of the buildings on campus and then they would go their separate ways. Kuro would be on his own after that. Mahiru had to go to work soon anyway.


	2. Busy and Lazy Days

**_Kuro_ **

Kuro didn’t know what he thought of Mahiru. He could already tell that Mahiru was going to be a pain to deal with. He was obviously too energetic. He spoke too quickly, as though he had way too much to do just to take his time doing things. They were walking through the portion of the campus that was dedicated to the students that lived there.

“I don’t understand why I have to show you around,” Mahiru told him after a few minutes of silence between them. They were coming up to the building that housed the cafeteria, and Kuro had been in his own little world the entire time. The brunette turned around to look at him with a small frown that pinched his eyebrows together. “Didn’t you live here before?”

“No,” Kuro admitted. “I lived off campus.” He didn’t offer up any more information than that. He didn’t feel like having story time. It was a long story that he cringed at the memory of. It hadn’t been too long ago that he had been rooming with his brothers off of the campus. All of them were completely content. That didn’t stop the images of blood spattering that showed up behind his eyelids when he closed them.

“Off campus, huh?” Mahiru said. He looked back at Kuro curiously. “Is it better living off campus? I always wondered about that. I kind of hate the dorms here, and I figure that itmight be cheaper to live in a small house by myself or with a roommate.”

“It’s a pain,” Kuro said quietly as they made it to the outside of the cafeteria. There was a large window that he was able to look into. Since it was still so early in the day, there were only a few students sitting around, eating lunch. They were all in small groups, laughing and talking carelessly amongst themselves.

“Really?” Mahiru asked with a raised eyebrow as the stopped and looked into the cafeteria. He turned and stared at Kuro, who saw him out of his peripheral vision. “What’s so bad about it.”

“Traveling is annoying,” he replied shortly. “You have to wake up earlier to get to class.”

“You’re right, I guess,” Mahiru conceded. “It would be simpler to just live here.”

Kuro just stared at the cafeteria for a little bit longer before he turned around so that he was looking at the pathway that would take him toward the apartment that he was staying in. “Yeah. Can we go back to the room now? I’m tired.”

“You go ahead,” Mahiru said. “I have to get to work. Can you find your way back?”

“Yeah,” Kuro said shortly. He turned around and slouched as he started shuffling in the direction that they had come from.

The entire campus was wooded, making him feel as though he was in the middle of nowhere. The pathways cut through the trees and twisted and turned, taking him through a much too-long trip just to get to the stupid apartment complex. Living on the campus was going to be a complete pain, but he didn’t really have a choice. None of his siblings did. They had all been forced to move into the campus _for their own safety_.

“You look tired, big brother,” a loud voice boomed from behind Kuro. He cringed slightly as the voice assaulted and hurt his ears.

He stopped with a sigh and turned around slowly. One of the last people that he wanted to see was standing on the pathway, which was otherwise deserted. Lawless. Kuro grimaced at his younger brother, who was smiling sarcastically at him. “What do you want?” he asked him quietly.

“My father back,” Hyde snapped. “I figured that was obvious.” His red eyes were narrowed into slits behind his glasses as he glared at Kuro. His arms were crossed over his chest. He had his blond and brown hair raised into messy spikes, as though he hadn’t bothered with it in days.

“I can’t help with that,” Kuro said quietly. “He wasn’t exactly a father to us. I don’t know why you insist on using that word. He was a monster and we’re better off without him anyway.”

“You’re lying,” Hyde sneered. “You were just jealous that he never paid any attention to you!”

“Quit sounding like such a brat,” Kuro rolled his eyes at him. “There’s nothing that we can do about it now. What’s done is done. Just get over it and move on.”

“Quit trying to run from what you did,” Hyde snarled at him. “You’re a monster, and you know it.”

“He tried to kill you and Lily,” Kuro snarled. “What did you want me to do? Was I supposed to just stand there and let you die?”

“He wouldn’t have—”

“I _am_ tired, Lawless,” Kuro said shortly. “I’m going to go and lay down. Just leave me alone, and quit being such a pain.”

Without saying another word, Kuro slowly turned around and began to walk away. “Don’t just walk away from me, Sleepy Ash!” Hyde snarled. “I’m not finished!”

“Well I am,” Kuro said shortly. He turned and leveled Hyde with an angry glare. “Now leave it alone.”

Hyde remained silent as Kuro turned back around and began walking off. Everything felt like it was too much to take. He didn’t have the energy to put up with a rebellious brother. He didn’t even have the energy to put up with the thought that Hyde might be right. Guilt was squirming inside of his stomach violently enough that he thought he might be sick.

He closed his eyes for a moment as he walked, just trying to push all of the stress out of his body. What happened to his father had been his fault. He didn’t know if what he had done was right, and with Hyde blaming him so violently, he had a suspicion that he had been wrong. _Why can’t someone tell me that what I did was the right thing?_

He shook off the crippling doubt that he felt whenever he thought about it as he got to the door of the apartment complex. He swiped his card over the scanner and walked inside. When he got to his door and swung it open, he was met with the same immaculate home that he had come across when he’d moved his things over. The only difference was that there was a book bag sitting on one of the chairs in the living room. “Ah, Kuro!”

He jumped and turned to see Sakuya standing in the kitchen. He was grinning widely at him, as he stirred something in a pot. “I figured that you’d be here anytime. Mahiru’s got work now, and you looked tired. I’m making some ramen if you want some. I figured that you wouldn’t want to cook since you look so beat.”

“No thank you,” Kuro muttered. He turned around and walked to his room. “I’m just going to go take a nap.”

He grimaced as soon as he turned away from Sakuya and walked over to his rom. He didn’t know what it was about the people in this apartment and being outgoing and cheerful, but it was getting really annoying. He closed his door behind him and let out a small sigh of frustration as he walked over to his bed and collapsed on top of the unmade heap. He was too lazy to get up and change anything. It would be fine for the night.

 

He woke up the next morning, to his alarm going off.  He sighed and just turned the dismiss button on the screen. He didn’t feel like going to class. It would be okay for him to just stay in bed for the day.

 

**_Mahiru_ **

He slept through his alarm because the jerk that was supposed to come into the convenience store to work after him never showed up, and it was simpler for him to just work both shifts instead of having someone else come in. It was a bad idea. He hadn’t gotten back to campus until five o’clock that morning when the douche decided to finally stop by and pick up his slack. He’d only gotten maybe an hour of sleep. It would have been a better idea just to stay awake.

He yawned as he pushed himself out of bed and darted to his closet. He picked out the first shirt and pair of pants that his hands came in contact with. After grabbing his other necessities, he booked it for the bathroom and dove into the shower before the water had any time to even warm up.

He made it out of the shower in record time, and still didn’t feel fully clean when he dressed himself. He ignored the feeling and rushed out of the apartment still gargling mouthwash. He’d never been tardy before, and this wasn’t going to be the first time.

“What the hell?” Mahiru groaned as he opened the door and led from the apartment building. Water was pelting down from the sky so quickly that he couldn’t see anything that was more than about five feet from him. Sighing in resignation, he turned around and rushed back inside to get an umbrella.

It was going to be a hectic day.

 

He was so late to his first class for the day, Chemistry, that the teacher, Dr. Kranz, had already locked the doors and he wasn’t able to attend. Mahiru groaned and slumped against the wall and slid to the floor. He rested his face in his hands as he tried to digest exactly how bad off he was.

“Well don’t you look upset,” a friendly and soothing voice said. Mahiru felt himself become at ease just from hearing it. He looked up and saw a guy with shoulder length blond hair and red eyes walking up to him. The man was very attractive in a pretty sort of way. The only thing that seemed flawed about him was his arm which was in a pink cast. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing really,” Mahiru told the guy. “I’m just already having a long day.” He frowned slightly as he realized that he was the only other person in the hallway. “Were you too late too?”

“No,” the guy said. “My childhood friend, Misono has class with Dr. Kranz right now. I told him that I would wait for him to get out so we could go and get some breakfast together.” He smiled fondly as he spoke about his friend. They must have been very close. “It’s a routine, really.”

“That’s nice,” Mahiru told him earnestly. It really was nice when friends got together and did things like that. All he ever really saw were people talking on the phone through texts in order to keep in contact with each other. No one ever just went out and did things together anymore.

“My name is Snow Lily,” the man told him. “You can just call me Lily, though.”

Mahiru didn’t mention how strange it was to hear a guy with the name Lily. He just smiled and held out his hand. “Mahiru Shirota. It’s nice to meet you.”

Snow Lily just beamed at him as he grabbed his hand with his good one and shook it firmly. “It really has been nice meeting you, Mr. Shirota.”

 

Lily’s red eyes had been engraved in his mind for the next couple of hours, and he couldn’t figure out why. They seemed oddly familiar to him, but he couldn’t pinpoint where. Mahiru frowned slightly as he tried to recall someone that he had seen with red eyes. That wasn’t exactly a common eye color, so he figured that he would remember someone with….

He sighed and he slapped his forehead with his palm. He’d seen those red eyes a couple of other places! His newest roommate, Kuro, and one of his other roommates, Licht, had a ‘stalker’ with the same red eyes. Mahiru would have thought that they were related, but there was no resemblance between them other than those eyes. They all looked nothing alike. Simply thinking, it must have been a coincidence.

He looked down at his watch and grumbled to himself as he walked out of the science building. He had a little over an hour until he had to get to work at the school store. Part of him wanted to just walk over to the store and stay there until his shift, but he was really hungry. He knew that he could buy something to snack on there, but he really didn’t have the money to be splurging.

He sighed in defeat as he walked out from underneath the safety of the pediment in front of the building and into the downpour.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter happened abruptly, and I don't know how I feel about that. It was really awkward, but I'm trying to work on the presentation of information. I think that in the future the progression will go a lot smoother. So...what do you think happened between Kuro and his father??


	3. Not Interesting at All

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy the chapter. I've been really busy lately, so don't be surprised if my updates start becoming random. I'll write whenever I have the time to. I promise.

Kuro:

He woke up again around three o’clock in the afternoon. He sighed and went to sit up in his bed as the urge to go to the bathroom hit him. He sat on the mattress for another moment before he finally built up enough strength to push himself out of his bed. He slowly shuffled over to the door and cracked it open, allowing light to spill through the small slit and blind him. He squinted and shielded his eyes with his hand as he opened it up the rest of the way. When he walked out of the room, the noise of people talking greeted him, much to his displeasure.

He saw Mahiru standing in the kitchen with a loaf of bread sitting next to him as he prepared some sort of sandwich. He didn’t make any noise as he walked into the bathroom. Maybe he would be lucky and no one would notice him. He would be able to go back into his room and go to sleep if that was the case.

He hurriedly washed his hands and slowly opened the bathroom door. It let out a loud creak and Kuro silently cursed.

“Who else is here?” he heard Mahiru ask.

“I don’t know,” a stranger replied. “It must be your roommate.”

“Kuro, is that you?” Mahiru called out. “Come and meet Licht. He’s the guy that stays beside Sakuya!”

Kuro paused, wondering if he could get away with pretending like he didn’t hear Mahiru. He figured that there was no one that stupid. He sighed and shuffled away from the bathroom door. He walked slowly into the living room and saw a guy in a black hoodie sitting down at the wooden table that sat next to the wall near the hallway he shared with Mahiru. He looked up at Kuro with a blank expression that almost hinted at a scowl. His hair was almost as long as Kuro’s, but it was black with a single white stripe that ran down the raven strands near his eye.

“You have red eyes,” Licht said abruptly with a strange foreign accent. His expression contorted into a scowl as he looked at Kuro.

Nervous by the sudden aggression, Kuro took a small step back. “It’s a birth defect,” he mumbled.

“Heritable?” Licht said.

“Maybe.”

“You’re related to that shit-rat!” Licht stood up at this sentence.

Kuro took another small step back and held up his hands. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m an only child. Besides, I’m probably not the only person here with red eyes.”

Licht narrowed his eyes at Kuro for a moment before sighing. “You’re probably right. You don’t look anything like that stupid demon anyway…other than those eyes.”

“Speaking of eyes,” Mahiru piped up. Kuro turned and looked wearily at the other guy and crossed his arms. This conversation had become exhausting all too quickly and Kuro wanted nothing more than a quick escape.

“What about eyes?” Kuro asked quietly.

“I was wondering if you’re sick,” Mahiru said. “You’re still in your pajamas, you have really dark bags under your eyes, and you’re pale.”

“I’m not sick,” Kuro mumbled.

“Then why didn’t you go to class?” Mahiru asked.

“Who says that I didn’t?” Kuro demanded.

“The fact that you’re still in your pajamas and you still have bedhead,” Licht threw in from behind Kuro.

He scowled and turned around and looked at Licht. “I didn’t go to class today. What does it matter?”

“It doesn’t,” Mahiru said quickly. “I don’t have the time to argue with you. I just figured that if you were sick, then I could pick something up for you at the school store.”

“I’m fine,” Kuro said shortly. He ignored the strange warmth that came into his heart at the nonchalant way that Mahiru offered to pick something up for him at the store. He wasn’t used to being treated so kindly, even if it really wasn’t supposed to be that big of a deal. “I don’t need anything.”

He turned around and walked out of the room. That conversation had managed to sap all of the remaining energy that Lawless had left him. He shut the door behind him, and heard Licht grumble a moment later, “He seems real nice.”

“I’m sure that he’s just having a bad day,” Mahiru said immediately afterward, jumping to his defense. Kuro just walked over to his bed and laid down, trying to tell himself that he wasn’t touched by how thoughtful this strange boy was being.

Kuro just sighed and laid back down on his bed. A few moments later, he coughed and let out a sneeze. He blinked as a horrible thought came to him…maybe he was getting sick after all. He just sighed and laid back in his bed. He would probably feel better after a little more sleep. It was nothing, he was sure.

**_Mahiru:_ **

He hated his job. The people that walked into the school store always acted like it was his fault that everything was so expensive. They acted as though he was the one that personally jacked the prices up by like fifty percent more than what one would find in a regular grocery store. He normally just sat behind the counter and tried to avoid eye contact with the customers. When he tried to explain that it wasn’t him or anyone else that ran the store, they normally got snappy and told him that he needed to talk with someone about getting the prices lowered. He learned that it was simpler to just let them rant and ignore whatever they had to say. Reasoning with them was impossible.

“Well isn’t this just a boring place,” a loud voice called. Mahiru looked up and saw a short guy with sunglasses walk in. He had black hair and a smile that Mahiru thought was kind of creepy, though that might have been because it made him look crazy.

 _Yeah_ , Mahiru thought dryly. _I don’t like it here either, man. At least_ you _can leave anytime you want._ A moment later, another man walked in. This one was dressed in a loud white suit with a white top hat on top of pink hair that was pulled back into a long ponytail.

“Hello,” the guy with the sunglasses called, waving over at Mahiru. He casted him that creepy smile as he slowly walked over to him. “I’m new to the campus. I was wondering if you knew anything around here that might be exciting.”

“You could check over at the housing office,” Mahiru told him. “They normally have all of the information about activities that are going on.”

“Well that isn’t interesting at all,” the guy said. His smile contorted into an almost tired pout as he looked over at the pink haired man. “Belkia, I’m bored!”

“Don’t worry,” Belkia told him encouragingly. “We’ll find something interesting! Do you want to see a magic trick that I’ve been working on?”

The guy’s entire expression lit up immediately. “Yes, of course!”

“Guys,” Mahiru said uneasily. “If this is going to make a mess, you’re going to have to take it outside.” The last thing that he wanted to do would be to pick up after these two lunatics.

They both looked over at him, with surprise. Mahiru suddenly felt uneasy, and tensed as he fought against the urge to take a step back.

Then the bell rang, signaling that another customer had entered the room. Mahiru wasn’t reassured by this. Despite the fact that another person was there to witness whatever it was that was going on, he honestly didn’t know if those two would even care.

Mahiru didn’t look away from the duo, but they both took their eyes off him and turned to look at whoever had come in. Belkia’s eyes widened and the man with the sunglasses contracted a huge grin. Then he laughed. That sound was purely psychotic. Mahiru flinched at the loud noise, grimacing as his suspicions of the man’s sanity were suddenly confirmed.

“Oh dear,” he said after a moment. “I do believe that this day just got a lot more interesting!” He turned and looked at Belkia for a moment before looking over at Mahiru. “I guess we’ll just wait until later. This trick would certainly cause a huge mess.”

The way that he said it left Mahiru believing that he was not talking about Belkia’s magic trick. He turned as the two of them began walking away. The newcomer was standing next to the door way with a frown creased deeply on his face. He was even paler than the last time Mahiru had seen him, and he had even darker bags under his eyes. Kuro really was getting sick…though that was not what was on his mind.

“What the hell was that all about?” Mahiru demanded after the door shut behind the strange duo.

“What was what about?” Kuro asked as he slowly shuffled farther into the store.

“Those two,” Mahiru told him. “They obviously recognized you.”

Kuro shrugged and shook his head. “I don’t recognize them; I think I would remember those two freaks.”

Mahiru conceded. The pair had been odd. For all Mahiru knew, they had actually been talking about a magic trick. He pushed the scene from his mind and said, “What can I help you with?” It was the only way that he could ask if Kuro needed anything for the illness that he was obviously contracting. He looked as though he’d been through a few too many long days with not nearly enough sleep.

“Uh, yeah, actually…” he trailed off and looked down, as though he felt awkward. “You were right earlier. I don’t feel too good. I think I might be coming down with a cold or something. I tried to sleep it off, but I woke up feeling worse than before.”

“Alright,” Mahiru said. “The best thing that you can do is get something to help with any sort of sinus problems that you could be having, and get something for your cough and any potential headaches.” He was silent for a moment before he walked around the counter. “I guess the simplest thing that you could use would be….” he trailed off as he walked over to the small isle with the different health products on it and picked up a bottle of Dayquil and a bottle of Nyquil. “These should work.”

“Um…thanks,” Kuro told him. He grabbed the bottles from him and walked over to the counter. “How much do I owe you?”

“Fourteen seventy-three,” Mahiru said, giving him an apologetic look. The prices really were outrageous.

Kuro didn’t even blink as he pulled out his wallet. He handed Mahiru a twenty, and when Mahiru went to grab his change out of the register, Kuro just shook his head as he covered his mouth to hide a yawn. “Don’t worry about it. Just…grab a snack for yourself or something. Change is too troublesome.”

Before Mahiru could argue with him about it, the bluenette turned around and walked out of the store.

Mahiru shut his mouth, which had been open with the intention of protesting. He looked down at the register, which held just a little over five dollars of money that was purely his. He couldn’t help the small smile that curled on his lips. He could actually get a small snack with that and a drink to hold him over until he got back. Sure, he would have to eat ramen that night…again…but the thought of actually being able to splurge a little bit warmed him slightly.

 

That night when he walked back into his apartment. Sakuya was sitting, hunched over the small table. He had a plate of food pushed off to the side and a stack of papers in front of him. He looked up as Mahiru walked in and shook his head, sitting up and stretching with a yawn. “What’s got you in such a good mood?”

“What are you talking about?” Mahiru asked him.

“Normally you look tired and grumpy when you get back,” Sakuya told him. “You’re actually smiling. Did your boss die, or something?”

Mahiru blinked and shook his head. Sakuya was all too familiar with how much Mahiru hates his boss, but even so, Sakuya knew that Mahiru would never actually wish harm on anyone. “No,” Mahiru told him anyway. “I didn’t even realize that I was smiling.”

He walked over to the kitchen and threw his now empty drink bottle away in the trash.

“You know what,” Sakuya said as he shook his head. “I saw Kuro stumble in here a little earlier. He looked like he was troubled, and when I asked him what was wrong, he told me that he didn’t know what I was talking about. You’re the second person that came in here not realizing that their face was conveying something totally different than what they were apparently thinking. Did something happen at the store?”

“Nothing that would have made him upset and me happy,” Mahiru said. He frowned at Sakuya. It was normal for his friend to pry, but this was strange, even for him.

“Is there something that you need to tell me?” Mahiru asked his friend. He turned around and looked at his friend, who was leaning against their hideous blue countertops. Sakuya was the epitome of relaxed at that moment, and Mahiru had a hard time believing that he had anything to say to anyone at all.

Sakuya let out an amused breath and shook his head. “Don’t be dumb, Mahiru,” he advised him. He pushed himself away from the counter and stretched slightly. “I think I’m about to run to the vending machine. I need some caffeine if I’m going to pull this all-nighter.” He looked at Mahiru with a smile and said, “You look tired, man. Why don’t you go to sleep? We can talk all you want tomorrow.”

Mahiru sighed, but it quickly turned into a loud yawn that he tried and failed to stifle. Yeah. Sakuya was right. He was tired, and needed to get some rest. “Alright, then,” he said. “Good luck on your exam. I’ll talk to you later.”

Mahiru smiled at his friend as he walked past him and into his bedroom, shutting the door behind him. He looked lovingly at his bed. It had been entirely too long since he’d been able to relax on top of it. He quickly stripped out of his uniform and walked over to his dresser. After he pulled out a pair of pajama pants, he slid them on and sighed as he crawled under the covers. He shut his eyes and sleep came immediately.


	4. Abnormal Mornings

**_Kuro:_ **

The only thing that would be more troublesome than going to class would be having to find somewhere else to live if he was kicked out for missing too many days. That was the only thing that got him up the next morning. He groaned and sat up in his bed. He yawned as he rubbed his eyes with his fists and looked blearily toward the window. His alarm had gone off a few minutes before, and he was just trying to gather enough strength to actually stand up and shuffle out of his door and to the bathroom. The only problem was that the longer he sat in bed, trying to find the will to get on with the day, the more appealing staying in bed seemed to him.

He sighed. Maybe a shower would make him feel better. With the way that his head was pounding, however, he doubted that there was anything that would make him feel better. Just gathered the resolve and pushed himself off the bed. As soon as his feet hit the floor, a wave of dizziness ran through him, and he stumbled, nearly losing his footing. He caught himself at the last minute and threw a hand up, blindly catching the wall.

His heartrate was way too fast to be considered normal, and he felt too hot and woozy. Shaking the feeling off, he slowly dragged himself out of the bedroom. Why did he have to feel so sluggish? The only thing he wanted was to not be so damn lazy. Why couldn’t he feel the drive to do _anything_?

He suddenly felt a burning stab of jealousy cut through him. Of course, the center of his thoughts was sitting in the living room. He was already dressed and had his book bag sitting beside him as he ate some sort of breakfast. The strong smell of meat hit his nose and his stomach immediately turned. He felt it lurch, and he was suddenly covering his mouth as he rushed into the bathroom. He hunched over the toilet, vomiting violently inside.

“Kuro?” Mahiru’s uneasy voice came from outside. Thankfully he’d had enough decency to not follow him inside. The thought of having Mahiru watching him do something so degrading was humiliating enough to be exhausting. “Kuro, are you okay?”

Kuro took a shuddering breath as he slowly started straightening up. “I’m…I’m f—” Before he could finish his sentence, his stomach lurched again, and he was hunched over the toilet bowl again, emptying his already empty stomach.

It was about half a minute later that he felt it was safe for him to stand again. He slowly stumbled to the sink and braced himself against the countertop so that he wouldn’t fall. There was a knock and Kuro hurriedly looked over to his right. Mahiru was standing outside of the still open doorway. He was frowning at him concernedly. “Why are you up?” he asked him. His voice sounded disapproving and authoritative, as though he was Kuro’s mother, scolding him for doing something stupid.

“I have class in like forty-five minutes,” Kuro told him. He reached for the mouthwash, wanting nothing more than to get the sour taste out of his mouth. Mahiru was still looking at him as he rinsed his mouth out. He couldn’t deal with the weight of the other man’s gaze; it was too exhausting. “What?” he finally sighed.

“You’re not going to class,” Mahiru told him decidedly.

“Yes I am,” Kuro told him. He really wished Mahiru wouldn’t argue with him. He barely had any will or constitution to stand on, and if he was pushed at all, he honestly wouldn’t go to class at all. “I have to take a shower, so if you could please just—”

“Stand up straight,” Mahiru said abruptly. “If you can stand up without the help of the countertop, I’ll leave you alone, and you can get ready for class.”

Kuro looked at him with narrowed eyes. He didn’t see why he had to put up with Mahiru bossing him around. Part of him wanted to tell the boy to screw off and leave him alone, because dealing with people exhausted him, but he didn’t. There was another part that truly craved this attention. Mahiru wasn’t fussing at him because he had done something unimportant and made the man mad. He was fussing a Kuro in a way that actually made Kuro feel…almost cared about. It was nice. Of course, Kuro had only known the boy for three days, and he figured that being bitched at, whether it was for a good reason or not, would get annoying and quickly.

He sighed as he pushed himself to his feet. His head swam slightly, but he managed to do it without stumbling. “You see,” he said. “I’m fine.”

Mahiru shot him a suspicious look and said, “Fine. Just promise me that you’ll come back here if you start feeling any worse. There’s no point in making yourself any weaker than you already are. It’s not healthy.”

“I’ll be fine,” Kuro assured him.

Mahiru looked at him distrustfully and Kuro just rolled his eyes. “I’m _fine_ ,” Kuro said. “Are you trying to get me to play hooky?”

“No,” Mahiru said quickly. “What time is your first class?”

“Eight thirty,” Kuro told him. Mahiru looked down at his wrist, where a watch sat. Kuro saw the small hand on the seven and the large hand on the nine. “I need to get ready so I can leave soon. Can you please let me?”

“Yeah,” Mahiru said. He sighed in obvious resignation and walked out of the bathroom so Kuro could get a shower.

Kuro shut the door behind him and groaned as he slumped over. This was the worst. He hated school, and being sick made it so much worse. Why did he have to go here?

 

He tried his best to be quick about getting ready, but it was really hard to move quickly. He was getting dizzy and his stomach was lurching every time he moved any faster than a slow shuffle. It was already almost a quarter past eight when he walked out of the bathroom. He was going to be late to his first class…again. The thought frustrated him. The weight of the stares that fell on him when he walked in after class began was too exhausting to even think about.

“You look a little better.”

Mahiru’s voice startled him. He jumped slightly and turned to look in the living room. Mahiru was still sitting on the couch. He was looking at Kuro with a frown as he seemed to be assessing him. He felt extremely self-conscious under Mahiru’s scrutinizing gaze. “I told you I was fine,” he mumbled, keeping his eyes lowered to the ground.

“Alright then,” he said. “I guess we can head out.”

Mahiru slung his book bag over his shoulders and looked at Kuro expectantly. “You are ready, right?”

“Sure,” Kuro sighed. “Let’s go.”

 

The walk seemed to take forever. It was cold outside, and Kuro was already out of breath as they left the apartment’s courtyard. They made it on to the cement pathway that took them through the forest as a form of a shortcut to the academic part of campus. He began breaking out in a cold sweat about halfway through.

He heard a buzzing noise only slightly over his pounding heart.

“Kuro!” Mahiru’s loud voice broke through the noise barrier and brought him back to reality. He jumped in surprise and turned to look at him. Mahiru was frowning at him as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Did you hear me?” he asked.

Kuro blinked as he felt his usually half lidded eyes widening. “I….”

“I’m going to take that as a no,” Mahiru said decidedly. He looked away from him for a moment and back at the pathway, which was starting to curve a little, taking them to the left. “You look really bad. Do you need to turn back? I think that you should go to the nurse instead of to class.”

“I’ll be fine,” Kuro told him. “Worry about yourself. Being concerned for others is such a pain.”

Mahiru remained silently after that. Kuro hadn’t meant to be rude about it, but he figured that it might have been for the best. He could tell that Mahiru was one of those people that jumped forward and volunteered himself to whatever cause needed him. He didn’t want to be one of those causes. It was better to just shove him away, even if it caused tension between them later on.

It was better off this way. He didn’t want any friends. Everyone that he ever cared about seemed to get hurt. He wouldn’t be the cause of anymore pain. He didn’t think that he could live with the guilt.

Kuro sighed as he saw the trees break and the large buildings come into view. He and Mahiru went separate ways, neither of them saying a word to the other as they walked away from each other. Kuro ignored the corner of his mind that was telling him that he had probably just messed up the only opportunity to make a good friend that he would ever have.

**_Mahiru_** :

The English department was a disaster. All of the professors were crazy, and the students weren’t any better. A senior named Mikuni Alicein was Mahiru’s prime example. He had a strange western accent, as though he was trying to impersonate a cowboy. He walked around with a black hat on top of his blond hair, and was always carrying a doll with him. If the fact that he had a doll with him constantly wasn’t strange enough, he stepped it up to another level entirely. The doll was named Abel, and he was always shouting at someone about staring at his _darling Abel with lustful eyes._ Most of the time, being around this lunatic was enough to drive Mahiru insane. So, naturally, Mikuni seemed to have taken a liking to him since the previous year, when he’d been lost on his first day and had to ask for directions.

He pushed through the double doors and walked into the English building. Students were everywhere, but they had all created a wide berth around two students. One of them was Mikuni, and the other one was Tsurugi. If Mahiru thought that Mikuni was crazy, Tsurugi was completely unhinged. This guy was borderline psychopath, and was about to dive headfirst into that completely new level of lunacy. Anyone who looked into his golden eyes was able to tell that.

Mikuni was glaring at Tsurugi, as though he was about to tear every strand of black hair out of the other man’s head. Whatever was going on, it looked as though it was going to escalate very quickly, and it wasn’t going to be good. No one else looked like they were going to jump forward and try to break the tension. The simplest option was to just do it himself. He pushed past a couple of bystanders that were just looking at the pair in the middle of the hallway.

He broke through the barrier and rushed toward the two crazies. “What’s going on?” Mahiru demanded loudly as he stepped in between them.

“He took Abel,” Mikuni whined. He pointed his finger over Mahiru’s shoulder at Tsurugi. “Make him give her back! I have to hide her from all of the hungry stares of the freaks here!”

Mahiru sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Because of how nice Mikuni was, he refrained from pointing out that the wannabe cowboy was the last person that should have been calling someone a freak. He just turned and looked at Tsurugi, who was grinning crookedly down at Mahiru.

“Where is Mikuni’s doll?” Mahiru asked Tsurugi wearily.

“Her name is Abel!” Mikuni cried, sounding genuinely hurt that Mahiru had objectified her.

“Where is _Abel?_ ” Mahiru corrected.

“I don’t know,” Tsurugi said. “I was innocently minding my own business when this jerk came up to me, demanding to know where his doll was. I didn’t do anything.”

Mahiru looked at Tsurugi with narrowed eyes. _Innocent_ was not the term that he would have chosen to describe anything that Tsurugi did. The man always had an underlying motive.

“How much were you paid to do this?” Mahiru asked wearily. He knew that it was always money that spurred Tsurugi forward. He was a greedy as Mahiru was poor.

“Not everything is about money, Mahiru,” Tsurugi sniffed. He crossed his arms over his chest and turned his head to the side, as though he could not stand the thought of someone accusing him of being easily bought.

“To you it is,” Mahiru said calmly. “If you won’t tell me how much, then at least tell me who.”

“What kind of employee would I be if I didn’t keep my boss safe?” Tsurugi asked.

“An uninjured one,” Mikuni snapped, as he tried to move forward. Mahiru wasn’t looking at Mikuni, but ever since Tsurugi stopped denying that he had taken Abel, Mahiru has felt the poisonous vibes shooting out of his eccentric friend. Mahiru caught him and tried to push him back. “Move out of my way, Shirota!”

“I thought I told you to calm down, Alicein,” a gravelly voice snapped behind him. Mahiru whirled around and saw a huge man with a brown paper bag over his head standing next to Mikuni. He had a large hand on the smaller man’s shoulder and seemed to be effortlessly restraining him with just that connection alone. “You don’t know if he has Abel or not. You’re not going to figure out anything if you’re kicked out, are you?”

Mikuni sighed as he slumped his shoulders in defeat, making Mahiru feel almost guilty from stopping the brawl in the hallway.  He looked back and forth between Tsurugi and Mikuni. The former had an arrogant smirk painted across his face while the latter looked completely devastated. Looking around, Mahiru noticed that the majority of the people from the hall were gone. He looked down at his wrist and realized why. It was eight twenty-six. Class started in four minutes. “We need to go,” Mahiru told him. “We have classes to get to.” He turned and looked at Mikuni. “We’ll find Abel, okay? Everything’s going to be alright.”

Mikuni nodded sullenly and turned around as the strange man with the paper bag over his head led him off. That left only Tsurugi in the hallway with him. “Why won’t you say who hired you?” Mahiru asked him weakly. “I figured that you wouldn’t care about your boss if they’d already paid you off.”

“Oh, I don’t,” Tsurugi assured Mahiru with an almost evil smirk. “I just don’t like Mikuni. Why would I help him?”

“Why do you hate Mikuni?” Mahiru demanded. He hadn’t really seen the two lunatics interact before. He figured that they just didn’t know one another. He never figured that they had any type of history.

Tsurugi shrugged. “I’ll tell you, but it’ll cost.”

Mahiru glowered at Tsurugi. He tried to keep it quiet about how broke he was. He didn’t want anyone offering out charity, but he knew deep down that it was obvious that he was struggling for money, just by the ratty coat that he was forced to wear every day. “Whatever,” Mahiru muttered. He turned away and said, “I don’t know why you have to be so damn complicated.”

He walked off, in the opposite direction of the sociopath. He would find another way to get Abel back for Mikuni. There had to be other alternatives out there somewhere. Hopefully they would be just as simple.

 

“Why won’t you just die, you stupid Shit-Rat!” Licht’s angry voice carried halfway down the hallway that Mahiru was running down to get to his class on time. He walked through the door, just to see Licht kick his ‘stalker’ in the stomach. Hyde was a nice guy, but Mahiru had to admit that he had his quirks. He always smiled and was loud and obnoxious to the point that Mahiru found him difficult to be around. He wasn’t someone that he wanted to be near early in the morning, because Hyde was a morning person, the exact opposite of Licht. Mahiru honestly figured that morning time was the major reason why Hyde and Licht couldn’t click.

Hyde might have been a cheerful person, but the things that came out of his mouth were not cheerful in the least. They were mean, snarky, and sarcastic. He was the class clown, the school jerk, the university’s jokester. And both he and Licht were in his eight thirty literature class. Mahiru didn’t know how he was still sane.

“Licht!” Mahiru scolded as he marched up to the fighting pair. He pulled his friend back and snapped, “You cannot kick people!”

“He’s a demon,” Licht told him, unrepentant. “That Shit-Rat needs to be purified!”

Mahiru opened his mouth to hopefully talk some sense into his friend, but before he could Hyde was already getting to his feet. The bout of nearly psychotic laughter that came from the blond-brunette’s mouth made Mahiru shudder slightly as his eye twitched in annoyance. Something about that sound seemed vaguely familiar, but he couldn’t really put his finger on it. He didn’t really have time to make any connections. He had to break up this potential brawl first.

“Angel, babe,” Hyde drawled. “Why are you so violent? Honestly, are you sure that _you’re_ not the demon in this relationship?”

Mahiru winced at that inquiry. He knew that the only thing that was going to be taken out of that would be blood. Licht growled as he stepped forward. Mahiru got in front of him, and out of respect for their friendship, Licht didn’t knock him out of the way. He just looked past Mahiru and bared his teeth at Hyde. “There is no relationship of any kind between us. You’re demonic, and your kind needs to be purged from this earth!”

Hyde whistled, a shrill and loud sound. “That’s harsh, Ange—”

“What’s going on?” Dr. Tsuykui’s sharp voice came from somewhere behind Mahiru. He spun around and saw the professor standing in the doorway, glaring at them from behind his spectacles. He crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned almost bored against the doorframe. “This is seeming to become a habit between the three of you. If this keeps up, I’m going to have to ask you to leave my class.”

Licht stiffened up as Hyde started snickering. Mahiru could see this going south very quickly. He forced a smile up at Tsuykui and nodded quickly. “I understand, sir. Sorry!” He glared at Licht pointedly and said, “We’ll sit down now.”

Licht grumbled something under his breath about demonic beings as he turned around and stormed over to his desk and sat down. He slung his winged bag down on the ground next to him. Hyde murmured something under his breath, Mahiru heard bits and pieces of it. _Teacher’s pet_ came up and so did, _idiotic teacher._ Hyde went and sat at the back of the classroom. He leaned back as far as he could and put his hands behind his head, as though he was completely content with life and had no cares in the world.

Mahiru just sighed and rested his head against the desk. Was it too much to ask for a normal day?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter end notes are being strange. I didn't write anything and it was putting the same thing for the first chapter that I ever wrote here. Yeah, this is totally pointless, but I figured that it might stop the repeat of the end note....I hope you liked the chapter anyway!


	5. Family Emergency

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait. I've been excruciatingly busy and still am. On the bright side, I'm going to be getting a break very soon...I need this break. So I'll be writing more! Isn't that exciting? On with the next chapter!

**_Mahiru:_ **

English took forever to end, and by the time that Dr. Tsuykui dismissed the class, Mahiru wanted to dash out of the room and kiss the ground outside. Instead, he calmly stood up and walked out of the classroom after nearly everyone else had hurried out. He had just made it past the doorway before he felt an arm wrap around his shoulders.

“Don’t look so down, Mahiru!” Hyde’s cheerful voice rang in his ears. “You should be happy that you’ve stopped two fights less than two minutes apart!”

Mahiru frowned and turned to look at Hyde. He was grinning down at him as he removed his arm. “How did you know that I stopped a fight other than the one between you and Licht?”

“I saw the end of the first one while I was going into English,” Hyde told him. “I do happen to have a life outside of schooling, you know?”

“I’m aware,” Mahiru said dryly. “Do you know what they were arguing about?”

“Mikuni’s doll,” Hyde replied easily. “He kept shouting about his precious Abel; it was hard to miss the entire point of it.”

Mahiru looked at Hyde with narrowed eyes. Hyde was normally up to absolutely no good, and he seriously doubted that a time like this would be any exception. “What do you know about Abel?”

Hyde placed a hand over his heart, as he plastered on an obviously fake pained expression. “Why must you hurt me so, Mahiru? How could you accuse me of being such a thief?”

“I never accused you of stealing it,” Mahiru told him wearily. “All I asked you was if you knew anything about it?”

Hyde shrugged one shoulder almost carelessly. “I don’t know, Mahiru. I could know a lot of things.”

A moment later, Hyde was flying to the right. He crashed on the floor with a small grunt as Mahiru looked over in horror, only to sigh in exasperation as he saw Licht take Hyde’s place. “Quit evading the question, demon,” Licht spat at Hyde, who was scrambling back to his feet. “Do you know what happened to the doll?”

Mahiru turned and looked at Licht with a raised eyebrow. He hadn’t expected the man to have been listening in on what they were saying without attempting to subject Hyde to physical harm sooner. Part of him was impressed that his friend had shown that much restraint, not that he would let Licht know that. He just frowned at the man in question and said, “Do you really have to do that every time that you see him?”

“Only when I know that he’s up to no good,” Licht remarked. “I would do it to anyone that was as demonic as _this_.” The way that Licht said ‘this’ made Mahiru wonder exactly how much he hated this man.

Hyde seemed to be completely unfazed by the thought as he pushed himself up to his feet. “You’re so pushy, Angel,” Hyde told Licht. “I was just having some fun!”

“What did you hear?” Licht snapped.

Hyde sighed, obviously annoyed and said, “I overheard this strange man with pink hair talking earlier,” Hyde relented. “He mentioned something about getting some _greedy bastard_ to steal from that _cowboy freak_.” He shrugged and leaned back against the wall of the hallway and crossed his arms over his chest as he looked at both Mahiru and Licht. “I don’t know what you’re so worked up about it for. It’s just a prank.”

“Because it would be simpler to get the doll back,” Mahiru told Hyde. “Don’t you think that it would be so much more complicated letting Mikuni wonder around like a lost puppy for weeks on end until someone decides to give him back Abel. If I can go ahead and find it, things will be back to normal, and then more simple.”

“I guess so,” Hyde said. He pushed himself off the wall and grabbed his bag from the ground. He slung the pack over his shoulder and began walking away from them. He turned his head and remarked, “I don’t think it would be any simpler for _you_ that way, but whatever floats your boat.”

He heard quickly pattering footsteps getting rapidly louder, and he turned around to see a shorter purple haired man followed by the pretty blond man that he’d seen outside of his chemistry classroom the day before. They both had wide eyes and worried expressions plastered on their faces as they ran toward him and Licht.

“What’s wrong?” Much to his surprise, it was Hyde’s sharp voice that asked the question. Mahiru had thought that Licht’s personal tormentor had taken his leave, but he’d been near the end of the hall, about to walk out the door when the duo had rushed through.

“It’s big brother,” Lily said as he turned to look at Hyde. His expression was pinched and it was obvious that he was trying his best to remain calm.

“What happened?” Hyde asked.

“He’s collapsed,” Lily said. “The teacher that that he’d just fallen asleep in class again, but when he went to wake him up and send him out of the classroom, Kuro didn’t respond. He when to shake him, and he just fell out of his chair and to the ground. He never woke up or anything.”

Hyde’s face suddenly paled even more than it was naturally. He inhaled slowly and then exhaled. “Where is he now?” Hyde asked.

“I think that they called an ambulance for him,” Lily said. “He’s in the nurse’s station right now until they can get someone out here to take him off. You’re the second one I’ve found. I still need to find Jeje. Have you seen him?”

“About an hour ago,” Hyde told Lily. “Um…” he trailed off for a moment. And pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. “You go and sit with Ash. I’ll see if I can find Jeje. He doesn’t need to be alone right now.”

“Are you sure?” Lily asked him worriedly.

“Yes, now go,” Hyde commanded. Mahiru couldn’t look away from the man. He was so serious now, and just stepped forward and took charge. It was an amazing change, and Mahiru had trouble grasping on to. He turned to Mahiru and snapped, “Where is that freak with the doll at right now?”

“What the hell does Mikuni have to do with this?” Mahiru demanded. He didn’t really like the angry attitude that Hyde was speaking to him with.

“The tall guy with the paper bag,” Hyde said. He didn’t seem to be in the mood for evading answers. Honestly, Mahiru would have liked it better if Hyde would have decided to become more forthcoming to information about ten minutes before. “I need him!”

“Calm down,” Lily told Hyde putting a calming hand on his shoulder. He smiled at Mahiru and said, “Hello, again. Can you please take my brother to Mikuni? He’s just a little impatient and we’re kind of in a hurry.”

“Sure,” Mahiru said. He nodded his head and walked farther into the middle of the English department. “It’s this way.”

“Thank you!” Lily called to him. Mahiru didn’t have to turn around to know that the blond was rushing away to get to his brother. He rushed around a corner with Hyde, and much to his surprise, Licht, on his heels.

“I never figured that you had brothers,” Mahiru confessed to Hyde as he walked farther down the hallway. He passed a couple of passersby, but most of the hall had been cleared out as people had other classes to get to. Thankfully Mahiru had an hour break before his next class.

“I didn’t know that there was a specific look for someone with a brother,” Hyde said shortly as they came to a closed door. It was tucked into a corner, away from all the busy traffic. It was the lounge that was reserved solely for the English majors.

“I don’t want to talk to anyone right—oh, thank goodness, Mahiru, it’s you!” Mikuni crowed as Mahiru opened the door and stepped inside. Hyde pushed past Mahiru and stalked over to the couch where the strange man with the paper bag was sitting.

“Get up,” Hyde ordered Jeje.

“What are you doing in here, brat?” Jeje said, sounding completely bored despite his brother’s stressed air. “Shouldn’t you be off somewhere, kicking puppies, or practicing your Shakespearian quotes?”

“Sleepy Ash is hurt,” Hyde murmured.

At this, Jeje pushed himself off the couch and stood straight up. “What are we doing still here?” Jeje snapped at him.

Mahiru just looked at the pair in shock. “Your brother is Sleepy Ash?” he demanded. “You’re related to Kuro?”

Both Hyde and Jeje turned and looked at him. Mahiru could see thinly veiled impatience on Hyde’s face, but couldn’t see anything for Jeje’s expression, thanks to the paper bag. Much to his surprise, Jeje did speak up. “How do you know him?”

“He’s my roommate,” Mahiru said. “He wasn’t feeling good this morning, and I tried to get him to stay in bed. He refused.”

Both Jeje and Hyde slowly turned away from Mahiru and toward each other. Hyde’s expression was one of disbelief. “You’re sure that he’s talking about the same guy?” Hyde asked.

“I doubt there’s another Sleepy Ash on campus,” Jeje told Hyde as he shook his head slowly at his brother. He turned toward Mikuni and said, “We’ll figure out what happened to Abel later. I’ve got to take care of this.”

“Go and sit with your brother,” Mikuni shooed the large man. “He needs you.” Both Hyde and Jeje rushed out of the room, leaving only Mikuni, Mahiru and Licht in the room.

Mahiru turned toward raven haired man and looked him over. Licht had been unusually silent in the exchange. His jaw was clenched slightly, and Mahiru wondered if he was angry. “What’s wrong?” he questioned.

“I…I don’t know,” Licht said. He turned away from Mahiru and looked toward the doorway for a moment before turning back. “Hyde seemed actually concerned.”

“Of course he’s concerned,” Mikuni said as he pushed himself off the couch. “His brother’s hurt.”

“He’s a demon,” Licht said shortly. “He doesn’t feel concern for others.”

“I guess even demons have their soft spots,” Mikuni reasoned with a shrug. “Family is important.”

Licht shook his head. “Or he’s just a good actor. He won’t fool me, if that was what he was trying to do.”

Mahiru sighed, feeling a surge of irritation at his friend’s exasperating stubbornness. “Whatever it is, it doesn’t matter. Just let the thought of him be while he’s checking on his brother.” He turned toward Mikuni and said, “I’ve found a lead on Abel.”

“Really?” Mikuni said. His brown eyes lit up and a large grin curled on to his lips. He rushed toward Mahiru, grabbed him by his shoulders, and began to roughly shake him, as though that would force the answer out of him. “What’s the lead, Mahiru? Tell me!”

Mahiru let out a strangled yelp as he pushed himself away from Mikuni and said, “Calm down, sheesh!”

Mikuni let out a weak laugh and sheepishly scratched the back of his head as a light flush came across his cheeks. “Sorry about that.”

Mahiru frowned at his friend and said, “Hyde told me that he heard a pink haired man talking about having Tsurugi steal Abel from you.”

Mikuni smiled at Mahiru. His entire face seemed to glow as he was given the news. “Thank you so much!” he exclaimed, apparently not realizing exactly how many pink haired people were on this campus. Mahiru figured that pointing that out wouldn’t be wise. It was better to keep Mikuni in high spirits. Mahiru just smiled at him as Mikuni walked toward the doorway. “I’m going to go ahead and start searching!” Just before he walked out he turned around and said, “Since you did me a favor, let me give you some advice.”

Mahiru frowned. He wasn’t entirely sure if he wanted to accept any advice that would be given to him by this slightly insane man, but he remained silent and listened nonetheless.

“You have this Sleepy Ash rooming with you. I don’t know him, but I am familiar with a few of his siblings. They’re nice enough, but trouble follows them wherever they go. Just remember that when you get to know him.”

Before Mahiru could respond, Mikuni had already disappeared. Mahiru turned around and saw that Licht was staring at the empty doorway with his arms crossed. “What’s wrong this time? Is it still about Hyde—”

“No,” Licht said. “I just remembered that Kuro lied to me. He said that he wasn’t related to that shit-rat.”

“I don’t blame him,” Mahiru told Licht. “I probably would have lied too. You looked like you were about to attack him!”

“I still don’t like liars,” Licht said. “How can we trust him? Mikuni just said that the entire family was trouble!”

“We get to know him,” Mahiru said simply.

“Did you just completely miss what that freak-cowboy just said?” Licht demanded angrily.

“No,” Mahiru shrugged. “I’m just looking at the simplest solution. We won’t know if we can trust him until we know him. We’ll just have to risk it.”

**_Kuro:_ **

His eyes cracked open and he hissed as bright light assaulted his eyes. He shut them again quickly, wincing at the throbbing agony that shot into his skull. “Ugh,” he groaned as he lethargically brought his arm up and slung it over his eyes, grimacing as his arm throbbed slightly, as though it weighed too much to move.

“Judging from that noise, I’d say that you’re okay,” Hyde’s voice reached his ears. Kuro lethargically turned his face toward the sound, even if he was too weary to try and open his eyes again. “If you’re groaning, you must be well enough to complain.”

“Can’t deal,” he mumbled weakly. “Need more sleep.”

“You can sleep in a minute,” Lily’s voice met his ears next. Kuro sighed and let out a whiny groan. He felt horrible. Why did his siblings suddenly want to have a conversation with him now?

“I wanna sleep _now_ ,” Kuro responded childishly.

“Why did you push yourself this hard,” it was Hyde’s quiet voice that met his ears this time. Kuro winced at his younger brother’s tone. Kuro and Hyde never saw eye-to-eye on a lot of things, but they were still family.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kuro mumbled. He slowly lowered his arm to the bed beside him and cracked his eyes open. The light was just as blinding, and he let out a small whimper. Suddenly, the room dimmed and he could slowly open his eyelids and look around. His four younger brothers were there, Lily, Hyde, Hugh and Jeje.

“Don’t deny it, Sleepy Ash,” Hugh tutted him. He was the shortest of them all, and made up for what he lacked in height with complete self-confidence. “You’re overworking yourself, which isn’t like you at all. What’s going on?”

Kuro scowled at his younger siblings. As much as he appreciated their concern, it was a bit ridiculous. He wasn’t an invalid, and didn’t need it. It was too exhausting having to deal with them worrying so much about him. “Listen to me,” Kuro said. His voice was weak, but his tone conveyed that he didn’t want to be questioned. “I’m fine, and I’ll handle everything. I don’t want you guys concerned, alright. I think it might be a good idea to remain incognito. Try and stay away from each other as much as possible in public. I don’t really want anyone knowing that we know each other.”

Their eyes said everything that they wouldn’t voice: they were scared and they wanted someone to tell them that everything was going to be okay. What Kuro said had made them worry, and, as their big brother, it was his job to tell them that they would be safe. He closed his eyes for a moment, composing himself before he sighed and cracked them open all over again. “Don’t worry, guys,” Kuro sighed. “Dad’s still behind bars, and he won’t be out for a long time. I just don’t want anyone to draw any connections to us. Honestly, no one knows where we are, and I’d like to keep it that way.” He leaned back and tried his best to relax against the pillows despite the heavy stares of his brothers. “It’s for safety precautions, okay? Just quit being exhausting and do what I tell you. Everything’ll be fine if you just relax and lay low.”

There were quiet murmurs of agreement, though they were all forced. All four of them were strange, and had tendencies that made them stand out in crowds. Telling them to act normal was liking telling them not to be themselves. Kuro hated to do it to them, but they would be fine if they were safe. Kuro grimaced at the thought of one of them going missing. Just the thought of that much stress was enough to almost send him back under.

He let out a loud yawn and grimaced as his side throbbed. He wanted to ask someone why his side hurt so much, but he refrained. He figured that the effort of listening to the explanation was more than he could deal with at that moment.

“Why don’t you get some sleep, big brother,” Lily told him. He walked up to Kuro and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “We’re going to head back to campus. Do you want any of us to bring anything back for you?”

“I shouldn’t be here too long,” Kuro told them. “I just want to sleep.”

“Then rest,” Lily told him with a sad smile. That was the last thing that Kuro saw before he drifted back off into unconsciousness.

 

The next time that he opened his eyes, there was a nurse standing next to him. She looked unbelievably bored. The look of apathy on her face made Kuro feel like a caring person. She was looking at her clipboard noncommittedly, and Kuro silently wondered if she would have the same expression if he was dying. “You have some guests, Kuro,” the woman sighed, sounding just as unhappy as she looked. “I’ll send them in for you, if you’d like.”

Kuro sighed and nodded slowly. He figured that if he refused to see his brothers that he would just end up having to hear about it some other time. They were such a pain. He groaned as the door opened, but stopped mid-noise when he realized that he wasn’t related to the person standing in the doorway. “Shirota?” Kuro asked, grimacing at how raspy his voice was.

Mahiru smiled at him, obviously ignoring how horrible he sounded. “Hi, Kuro,” he said quietly. He walked inside, and Kuro noticed two others following him, Sakuya and Licht.

Sakuya beamed at him and waved his hand in a large arc, looking way too excited to be standing in the middle of a hospital. “Heard you took a dive on the floor after you collapsed,” Sakuya told him. “Sounds like you’ve had a rough morning.”

Kuro shrugged silently. What was he supposed to say? Agreeing seemed pointless, and saying that he hadn’t been through one of the worst days of his life seemed to be such a large lie that it was exhausting to even think about.

“I went around to your classes and got your work for you,” Mahiru told Kuro. “Before you call me some sort of creepy stalker, just let me say that your brother, Lily, showed me your schedule. I figured that it would be simpler for you to have all your work to do so that you wouldn’t get too far behind. I explained to your teachers what happened, and they all were very understanding.”

Kuro blinked, his brain short-circuiting from disbelief as he just stared at Mahiru. “Um…I…I…thanks,” he mumbled. It sounded like a crummy way to express his gratitude, but he didn’t know what else to say. Sure, he wasn’t exactly thrilled that someone had brought him work to do at the hospital, as if that was what he would want to do while he was recovering from overexertion, but that wasn’t the point. Mahiru had gone through all the trouble of tracking down his teachers and telling them what happened…just for him.

Mahiru beamed at Kuro and just shook his head. “Don’t worry about, it! We’re roommates, and I hope that we can become friends. It’s what friends do for each other, right?”

Kuro looked at the brunette exasperatedly. The guy was hard to keep down; it was as though the snappy comment that he’d made to Mahiru earlier that morning had been completely forgotten, and Mahiru was ready to start over and become great friends all over again. Kuro wanted to tell Mahiru that he was being ridiculous, and that he should take those fantasies of friendship and bury them, because no one would ever want to be friends with Kuro after they got to know him. He didn’t, though. Instead, he heard himself say, “Friendship is such a pain, but if that’s what you guys want, I guess I can try it out.”


	6. He who is Coming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's taken me so long to update. I've been horribly busy at school, but now I'm off...and I may or may not have been obsessing over another fandom. I'm back though, with a brand new chapter. I hope you enjoy!

**_Licht:_ **

“I still don’t see why we’re here,” Hyde complained loudly as the duo walked through one of the large hallways of the freshmen dorms. Licht rolled his eyes at his companions whining.

“I don’t see why _you’re_ here, stupid shit-rat,” Licht remarked. “I’m here because I’m an angel.”

“Sure you are,” Hyde said in a voice that made it clear that he didn’t actually agree with him.

Licht refused to acknowledge the stupid man’s comment. Mahiru had actually convinced him to come out and do a good deed. He’d told Licht that he was an angel, which meant that he was supposed to do good deeds. Helping Mikuni find Abel was a good deed, therefore he should do it because he was an angel. Licht had been unable to refute that argument, and had grudgingly agreed to search for clues.

Apparently, a person that matched Hyde’s description of the pink-haired freak lived in the freshman dorms, and they had been checking out the different floors of the boys’ dormitory for the past hour or so. They had made it all the way to the third floor, and had just been let in by an annoyed student. Licht had ignored the nasty look he received as he pushed past the freshman. It wasn’t his fault that he’d had to resort to knocking to get into the hallway. Someone should have opened the door faster.

“What did Shirota say that freak’s name was again?” Hyde asked as he looked at the names that were posted on the front of one of the many doors.

“Belkia,” Licht said as he glanced at the one directly opposite to Hyde’s.

“Thought so,” his companion sighed. “Found it.”

Licht spun on his heel and walked across the hallway to Hyde’s side and looked at the label. “So you did, shit rat.”

There were two names written on the door: _Belkia_ and _Tsubaki._

“Should we knock and say hello?” Hyde asked.

Licht could feel the excitement radiating off the other man and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Not two minutes before Hyde had been complaining about their job. Now he looked as though there was nothing better to do than retrieve a grown man’s doll for him. Licht knew why. The thought of violence was causing Hyde’s blood to boil with excitement. He was ready to fight, and it was something that disturbed and amused Licht at the same time. No matter how much he wanted to know why Hyde was so bloodthirsty, he’d never really come up with a way to ask the question without it sounding like he cared…which he didn’t.

“Sure,” Licht said. He frowned for a moment, feeling a small amount of foreboding as he looked at the door. Hyde stepped forward, his hand clenched in a fist. His intentions were obvious as he brought it forward. Licht caught his wrist before he could do anything. “Listen, shit-rat. Don’t do anything that’s going to get you hurt or kicked out.”

Hyde looked at Licht blankly, clearly uncertain of what to say. “Angel-Chan…that almost sounded as though you care about me.”

“I don’t,” Licht snapped quickly. “I’m thinking about your brothers. They don’t need to suffer just because you’re a demon. Just be cautious, and don’t do anything stupid.”

Hyde smiled at Licht, as though he knew something that Licht didn’t. “Don’t worry; I can control myself better than what you give me credit for.”

“Whatever,” Licht muttered. He turned away from Hyde and looked back at the door. He knocked on the wood three times loudly before taking a step back and crossing his arms over his chest. He tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for some sort of acknowledgement from the person one the other side.

“Maybe they went out,” Hyde reasoned.

As if to prove his point, a man stuck his head out of another door a few feet down and said, “They left like an hour ago. They probably won’t be back until later on tonight.”

Licht nodded slowly to let the guy know that he’d heard him. “Thank you,” Hyde called from behind Licht. “Sorry if we disturbed you.”

Licht turned and looked at Hyde with a frown.

“What?” Hyde asked. “One of us has to be polite, and since you’re not human enough to sink to our level, it had to be me.”

“Whatever, shit-rat,” Licht grumbled. “Let’s just get out of here.” Licht didn’t know why, but the entire hallway gave him the creeps. It felt as though someone was watching him. He knew that he called Hyde his stalker, but this was something worse. It sent cold chills down his spine, and suddenly the thought of Hyde’s gaze trailing over him didn’t seem too bad.

**_Mahiru:_ **

Kuro didn’t look too good, and it worried him. He had been discharged from the hospital the day before, and Mahiru had been tending to him ever since. Kuro didn’t ask him for anything, but Mahiru felt reluctant to go farther than he had to away from him while he was recovering. He knew that he was probably overreacting, but something just didn’t feel right about leaving the poor guy to fend for himself after he’d collapsed from exhaustion.

It wasn’t as though he could be by Kuro’s side at all times, however, and when he was gone, whether it was to class or to work, he always had someone else there to watch over the poor man, whether it was Sakuya, Licht or one of Kuro’s brothers. At the moment, Lily was lounging around the apartment with Sakuya while Kuro rested, just in case, while Mahiru was at work.

Mahiru yawned as he watched one of the infrequent customers leave the school store. He leaned back in his seat for a moment and looked around the building. He knew that he had a few chores that he needed to get taken care of before his shift ended, but he didn’t know where he wanted to start at first. He had to fight back a smile. Indecisive behavior was not like him at all.

The bell rang, and Mahiru jumped in surprise at the noise that signaled another customer. He couldn’t believe that there was another one already. His surprise died down when he saw the familiar figures of Licht and Hyde strolling through the doorway and morphed into burning curiosity.

“What did you two find?” Mahiru questioned before the door had shut completely behind Hyde.

“We found a dorm that was addressed to Belkia,” Licht told him. “His roommate is named Tsubaki. I don’t know if that name means anything to you, but yeah. It’s where that freak’s doll would be.”

“Did you get the doll back?” Mahiru asked. He knew that he shouldn’t be depending on Licht to do all of the things that he had taken upon himself to do, but he couldn’t help but feel hopeful that some of his workload had been taken off and he would be able to breathe again.

“We knocked on the door,” Hyde replied. “No one answered and someone told they had been gone for a while.”

Mahiru fought back the feeling of disappointment as he turned away from them and looked around at the store. After concealing his emotions properly, he turned back to the pair and smiled at them, feeling genuinely grateful for what they had done for him. “Thank you guys so much! You’ve saved me from a lot of trouble. Thanks for telling me what you’ve found. It’s given me something to think about while I’m here instead of just standing around, wondering if you two had found anything at all.”

“Of course we found something,” Licht said gruffly, shoving Hyde away from him as he struck forward in a flashy pose. “I’m an _angel_ after all.”

At this Hyde started whistling and clapping mockingly. “Yahoo! Angel, babe! Look at him go!”

Mahiru looked at them both wearily. Part of him wanted to say something to either calm Hyde down or reassure Licht that everyone still thought that he was a good person, but he couldn’t find the words to say anything. They were both just too much to handle at the same time.

“Of course,” Mahiru finally sighed. “Why don’t you two go ahead back to the apartments?” He didn’t want to get rid of them, but he knew that the longer they were out, the more prone they were to getting into some type of trouble.

Both Licht and Hyde looked him over for a second before Licht shrugged and turned around, taking a step toward the exit. “Alright. Do you need anything else done while we’re still out?”

Mahiru looked at Licht with a raised eyebrow at Licht’s back. This angel thing must have really been getting to his head, because Licht wasn’t the type to ever go out of his way to volunteer for _anything_. The man just wasn’t that nice.

“No, actually, I think everything is alright. Just ask Kuro if he needs anything when you get back. I don’t want him straining himself for anything until he’s completely better, and the doctor ordered him to rest up for another couple of days before he’s allowed to go back to class. He needs to be back in shape before he goes to school.”

“Okay,” Licht agreed. “I can do it. It’s my angelic duty, after all.” He turned toward Hyde and said, “Let’s go, shit rat. Your brother needs me.” Before Hyde could say anything, Licht had already grabbed his orange jacket and started towing him toward the exit. Mahiru watched them both go in silent amusement. Part of him wondered where Licht got off saying that he didn’t like Licht at all. It didn’t seem like the musical prodigy hated the eccentric’s company too much from Mahiru’s standpoint.

He sighed to himself as he tried to formulate a plan of action to retrieve Mikuni’s doll back from Belkia. He felt an ache starting to form right behind his eyes and realized that all of the stress was starting to give him a headache. He had no idea why people had to be so complicated.

_Ding!_

Mahiru turned around and saw a very familiar set of people walking into the store. It was the two people that he’d sent Hyde and Licht after earlier.

“If it isn’t the same handsome man that we had the other day!” Belkia cried. Mahiru felt a shiver of displeasure shoot through him at the compliment. The thought of being pursued by someone as blatantly unhinged as the pink-haired man disturbed him.

He kept a straight face, as though he hadn’t heard him say anything at all, and just asked, “Can I help you find anything?”

“Yes, actually,” the other said. He smiled broadly at Mahiru as he waltzed up to the counter. His sunglasses were glinting brightly in the light, making it impossible for Mahiru to see the man’s eye color. “You see, Belkia and I were told that a couple of your friends were seen looking for us earlier, and we were wondering if you could tell us why.”

Mahiru was silent for a moment, just looking at the other man. The raven had just turned from quirky to intimidating faster than Mahiru could really keep up with. “Wh…wha…” How did this man know that Mahiru had sent people to look for Belkia?

“Tsubaki!” Belkia shouted with maddened glee. “Two people are coming up! You should look!”

Tsubaki turned away from Mahiru, who felt an immediate wave of relief to have that psycho’s gaze off him. He felt his pulse slow only for it to stop completely as he saw Hyde and Licht appear back into the store. What were they doing back here?

“Who do we have here?” Tsubaki practically purred as he strutted forward.

“Who the hell are you?” Licht asked bluntly. Mahiru winced slightly. As much as he appreciated that his friend had no fear, but sometimes he wished that he would tread a bit more carefully when he was encountering strangers. Tsubaki freaked Mahiru out a bit and he didn’t really want to set the man off by rubbing him the wrong way, which Licht was incredible at doing without really trying.

“I’m the one that’s coming,” Tsubaki told Licht.

At this Hyde snorted loudly. He covered his mouth, as though he was trying to cover it up. When he realized that everyone heard his outburst, he just gave up and cackled. “Oh, come on!” he pleaded with them. “You can’t tell me that didn’t sound at least a little perverted to you guys!”

Mahiru felt the pressure in his head suddenly increase. “Belkia,” Tsubaki murmured. “I think things just got a little bit less boring.”

“Wait,” Licht snapped, “ _You’re_ Belkia?”

“Yes,” the eccentric confirmed. His voice was nothing more than a purr. It might not have been directed at Mahiru, but he felt creeped out for Licht.

The Angel had no such feelings, obviously, and just marched forward. He grabbed the lapels of the white blazer that Belkia had on and shook the man, holding him so that they were nearly nose-to-nose. “Where’s the doll?”

Belkia didn’t look nearly as apprehensive as Mahiru would have in that situation. In fact, the psycho just giggled. “What doll?” He turned away from Licht, a dangerous move, and looked at Mahiru, “Your friend is funny!”

“Um…” Mahiru said, hating to be the person to point out the painfully obvious, “I don’t think he’s trying to be funny.”

“Don’t be silly,” Tsubaki waved Mahiru off. He was grinning like he was just as crazy as his friend and Mahiru suddenly didn’t like the way that things were going.

He walked around the counter and hurriedly marched up to Licht and Belkia. “Why don’t you cool off, Licht?” Mahiru pleaded with his friend, grabbing Licht’s fist and trying his best to pry it away from Belkia’s pink button down.

“I’m fine,” Licht snapped. “As soon as this freak tells me where the doll is—”

“I don’t know if you have a lot of room to be calling people a freak,” Belkia told Licht, still sounding as unworried as ever. “You’re the one harassing people about a doll.”

Licht made an angry sound as he tensed up. Mahiru saw what was coming next and started tugging more insistently on Licht’s fist, trying his best to pull him away before a brawl could break out. It was no use, however. All Mahiru could do was watch as Licht’s fist got closer and closer to Belkia’s smiling face.

Before it could hit, however, Hyde was there. He’d grabbed Licht’s wrist and yanked it back before Licht could hit Belkia’s jaw. Licht stumbled half a step backward and turned around to scowl at Hyde. “Let me go, shit rat!”

“No,” Hyde said calmly. He yanked Licht again, pulling the self-proclaimed angel off balance so that he took another stumbling step backward.

Licht let out an angry cry and let Belkia go so that he could swing at Hyde, who blocked the angry punch with his forearm and pulled Licht back even farther from Belkia and Tsubaki. “Let me go!”

“Calm down!” Hyde snapped. “This is what they want you to do! Why don’t you just stop for once and use your damned head!”

Licht froze and Mahiru was unable to see the look on his face since he was facing Licht’s back. He just looked up at Hyde, breathing heavily for a few heartbeats before he snapped, “Whatever, shit-rat. Get your filthy hands off me.”

Hyde didn’t say anything as he let Licht go, apparently having some sort of confirmation that he wouldn’t go after Belkia again. Both Tsubaki and Belkia looked over at Licht with undisguised shock.

“Well this isn’t interesting at all!” Tsubaki whined.

Licht spun around and looked at the black-haired freak, his left eye twitching in either anger or frustration. “I’ll tell you what’s going to be interesting, you freak! My foot shoved up your—!”

“What’s going on here?” a weary voice asked. Mahiru jumped slightly before he spun around and saw professor Kranz standing in the doorway. Mahiru just closed his eyes in frustration. Part of him was grateful that someone had intruded when they did, but why did it have to be his chemistry professor. Kranz probably already thought badly of him for ‘playing hooky’ earlier that week. There was no way that Kranz would ever consider him a good student ever again.

“Damn,” Licht swore as he turned around to look at Kranz.

“Watch your language, young man,” Kranz scolded him, though there wasn’t really any heat to his tone. It was more like resignation. It was way too familiar for him and Licht to be strangers. “What would your father think of this?”

“Uncle Kranz—”

Uncle?

“Unless you’re about to provide a good explanation of why you’re about to mess up this store, I don’t want to hear it!”

“They stole our friend Mikuni’s doll,” Hyde cut Licht off before he could say anything else. “They won’t give it back, and they were trying to antagonize Licht into fighting with them. Mahiru and I tried to stop him.”

Kranz smiled at Hyde and then turned toward the duo. “Is this true?”

“He just came up and started accusing us,” Belkia said. His voice was way too dramatic to actually be taken as really distraught. “I don’t know anything about a doll!”

“Let’s just break this up, alright?” Kranz said. “You two get back to your dorm rooms and don’t cause any more trouble.”

Tsubaki and Belkia nodded, looking completely sincere until Kranz turned away. After that, they stuck their tongues out at Mahiru, Hyde and Licht, causing the pianist to tense up. Hyde grabbed the back of Licht’s shirt and snatched him back, not letting go until both Tsubaki and Belkia were gone.

“Okay,” Kranz sighed, sounding as though he had a headache already. “I don’t know what just happened, and I don’t care. You’re an adult now, Licht. If you get into fights, you can go to jail. You’re lucky these two gentlemen were here to stop you.” He turned and smiled at Mahiru kindly. “Thank you for keeping my nephew out of trouble, Shirota. I know it’s not an easy task.”

He turned away from him and to Hyde next. “You too, son. You two are very good friends to have.”

“Me and this rat are _not_ friends!” Licht protested, shoving Hyde away from him roughly. Mahiru halfway expected Hyde to look hurt from how nasty and sincere Licht’s tone was, but the other just rolled his eyes and shook his head in obvious exasperation.

“Don’t be mean,” Kranz scolded Licht as he walked away and grabbed a bottle of juice. He walked back up to the counter as Mahiru scrambled behind it again so that he could ring his teacher up. Kranz smiled warmly at Mahiru as he paid and then turned back around to frown at Licht. “I won’t tell your parents this time, but try and keep yourself out of trouble. There’s no reason for you to be getting into so many fights. The university is going to eventually get sick of it and just kick you out. You need to be careful.”

Licht looked like he wanted to argue, but he just sighed loudly and lowered his head, looking as though it was killing him the entire time to allow his uncle to chastise him. “Yes, sir,” Licht mumbled. “I’ll try my best.”

Mahiru had to fight back a smile at the thought. Even with all of the bravado that Licht had, he was still the same young kid on the inside that didn’t want to disappoint his family.  Kranz did smile. He reached out and patted Licht on the shoulder. “Thank you.” He turned to look at Hyde and Mahiru with a smile. “You two try and keep him out of trouble please.”

“Of course,” they both said hurriedly, though Mahiru knew that it was an almost impossible request to fulfill. Kranz nodded once in acceptance before waving and walking out of the store.

Mahiru looked at Licht with a frown and said, “You never told me my teacher was your uncle!”

“It’s kind of lame,” Licht admitted with a shrug. “Besides, it’s not like it would have made any difference if you would have known or not.”

Mahiru frowned at Licht for a few more moments before simply shrugging. He guessed it really didn’t matter, especially with everything else that was going on. Tsubaki and Belkia were both really bad news, and Mahiru was unsure of how he was supposed to respond to them. With how volatile Licht was, he was afraid of allowing him and Hyde to go back outside by themselves. They might run into the duo again, and there would be no one around to stop whatever Tsubaki and Belkia were after from happening.

Mahiru sighed and rubbed his face with his hands before checking his watch. “Why don’t you two stay here for the next forty-five minutes? I get off then, and the three of us can just walk back.”

“Fine by me,” Hyde shrugged. “It’ll give the Angel time to cool off and get those stupid melon chews that he insisted on coming back in here for.”

As if saying that reminded Licht of his true purpose, he turned around and walked toward the isles. Mahiru just shook his head. They were all too impulsive. It was going to cause someone to get hurt one day.

**Kuro:**

“Will you quit smothering me?” Kuro griped, scowling at his youngest brother, who was attempting to help him slide his jacket over the stiffened muscles of his back. He knew that he was lazy, but this was too much for even him. Being treated like he was about to break was making him increasingly uncomfortable. All he wanted to do was hide away some place that the lingering stares couldn’t find him. He didn’t like the attention of people, it always made him feel as though he was going to have to do something to measure up to their expectations, even when he was sick, and they just expected him to let them cater to his every need.

“It’s not smothering, big brother,” Lily told him with a sweet smile curling on his lips. Kuro could see the worry behind the expression, but was too weary to call him out on it. “I’m simply following Mahiru’s orders to the letter. You know how strict he is. I don’t want to put him on a rampage again.”

Kuro grimaced at the memory of Mahiru’s first outburst. It had been the day that he had been allowed to come back to the campus. Kuro had tried to get out of bed by himself so that he could get some ramen. When Mahiru had found him inching through the hallway, he had not been happy. In fact, Kuro would have gone as far as pegging him as angry. After that, he’d been ushered back to bed, informed that ramen would not be good enough for him to recover with. He had been forced to wait for Mahiru to cook him _‘real food,’_ as the boy had called it, and then informed that he was not to get up. It was the reason that he’d been on constant surveillance by either his roommates or his siblings.

“He’s not going to go on a rampage just because I’m trying to walk,” Kuro snapped. “All I want to do is stretch my legs! Even someone like me needs to move around once in a while!”

“Then get better, Sleepy Ash,” Lily told him. “It’ll be so much easier on all of us.”

“Don’t call me that name,” Kuro muttered after a minute, straightening up so that he was standing eye-to-eye with the blond. “I don’t want anything from that monster, what I’m called included, just call me Kuro.”

“Fine,” Lily said. His smiled seemed even more strained as he nodded his head with his eyes closed. “ _Kuro_ , now that you’re up and walking, what do you want to do?”

Kuro sighed in relief and walked toward his bedroom door. “I want some real food.”


	7. I've Finally Found You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Kuro back on his feet, Mahiru is able to focus on things other than his overly lazy roommate. Just when he thought that things were going to start looking more normal again, a curve ball is thrown into the mix in the form of a creepy note.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yeah I'm not dead...can you believe it? I was having some issues with writer's block, and then the internet. I'm back now, though. I know that it's a short and uneventful chapter, but hopefully it'll make up for the long break, and get me back into the groove of things.

Kuro had made a full recovery, and was back to what Mahiru guessed was his normal self. It included being unbearably lazy, sarcastic and witty when pressed into doing something that included effort and coming up with the worst excuses in the world in order to not get something done. In other words, he was someone that Mahiru wanted to scream at on a daily basis…not that it did any good when he finally gave into his urges. Kuro would just roll his eyes at him and make some stupid remark about how Mahiru was just a really angry boy who had no heart because he was tormenting someone as adorable as him.

It hadn’t taken Mahiru long to give up on trying to get Kuro to do things by just verbally coaching him in the right direction. Instead, he was going to have to act physically to get this sloth-like person to actually do what he was supposed to do. So, in response to this epiphany, he was getting up even earlier than he normally did, just so he could ensure that Kuro was awake as well. It seemed as though all of the drive that the blue haired boy had before he’d fallen out from exhaustion had completely left him.

“Time to wake up!” Mahiru called into Kuro’s room. He got no response and sighed. He waited for a few more seconds before he opened the door.

The sun had barely risen, so there were no beams of light shining through the small slits in the black out curtains that covered Kuro’s windows. Kuro turned over and groaned, clearly not having what Mahiru was getting at. Kuro mumbled something to him, but his mouth was muffled by the pillow, making it hard to tell what he said. Mahiru had a feeling that it was somewhere along the lines of _screw off._

“You’ve got to get up, Kuro,” Mahiru told him sternly.

“But the blankets are holding me prisoner,” Kuro whined. He curled up into the fetal position, and turned away from Mahiru. “I’ll be trying to break out while you go to class. Don’t worry about me, I’m sure that I’ll be fine.”

Mahiru didn’t say anything. He simply walked forward and grabbed the blanket that Kuro was balled up underneath. He snatched it off the bed and allowed it to fall softly to the ground. Kuro was in the fetal position on the bed. His arms came to wrap around his shoulders, as the cool air hit the bare skin of his chest and stomach. “What the hell?” Kuro demanded drowsily. “You’re such a pain!”

“It’s time for you to get up,” Mahiru told him. “We’ve got class soon.”

Kuro let out a long groan full of suffering as he rolled out of his bed and landed gracefully on his feet. “I hate you.”

“It’s for your own good,” Mahiru told him brightly. “I’ll allow the sacrifice of your anger if you’ll pass this semester.”

Kuro gave him a look of near disgust before he turned away from him to look in his drawers. Mahiru rolled his eyes at his roommate as he walked out of his room. Kuro would learn to get up and do things for himself. He just needed a push in the right direction.

 

His English class was painfully normal. He was still unable to figure out how any teacher could be as boring as his teacher was. Then again, he still didn’t know why Licht and Hyde were so violent. He guessed the world was full of mysteries, and there were some that he simply wasn’t meant to solve. When he got out of English, he headed toward the café where Sakuya had told him to go to. Mahiru didn’t have enough money to buy anything right now, but his green-haired friend wanted to speak with him. They hadn’t just hung out in so long, that Mahiru had jumped at the opportunity to do something so normal.

His friend had his headphones covering his ears as he walked up. He had two coffees sitting on the table as he looked down at a sheet of paper that he was scribbling on. It resembled some sort of math worksheet, but Mahiru couldn’t be sure anymore. He tapped him on the shoulder and Sakuya visibly jumped as he spun around and looked at Mahiru with wide eyes. Sakuya let out a breath of relief and relaxed as he grinned up at him. He shook his head as he removed his headphones from his ears and rested them around his neck. “You scared the hell out of me.”

“Your reaction suggests some serious paranoia,” Mahiru informed him with a grin as he took the seat opposite to Sakuya. The taller man just rolled his eyes and pushed the second cup of coffee toward him. “Man, you didn’t have to do that.”

“I know,” Sakuya told him. “Just shut up and drink it.”

“I thought that you wanted to talk,” Mahiru told him as he took a sip of the liquid. It wasn’t as hot as it could have been, and didn’t scorch Mahiru’s tongue. He sighed in relief and took an even bigger sip. “How can I do that when I can’t speak?”

“Ash is rubbing off on you,” Sakuya said with a grin. “You never used to be a smartass.” Mahiru smiled for a different reason. Kuro had been living there for over a month by this time, and Sakuya had refused to call him by his preferred name. He would come up with a slew of nicknames that seemed to agitate the blue haired man to no end, or just call him by his given name, which was even worse.

“Whatever,” Mahiru said and rolled his eyes with a grin, which took any poison from the act. “What did you call me here for? Quit avoiding the subject. I have class in about thirty-five minutes.”

“You and me both,” Sakuya reminded him with a smirk. “Don’t act like you’re so special.”

“Wouldn’t want to take that title away from you,” Mahiru shot back. “So, back to the subject…” Mahiru trailed off, looking at him meaningfully.

Sakuya’s smile seemed forced suddenly. “I…ah…I found something that you’ve been looking for.”

Mahiru frowned at his friend, unsure of what he was talking about. “What could you have…” he trailed off as Sakuya reached into his bag and started rummaging around inside of it. A minute later, he came back up with a doll. It wasn’t just any doll; it was one with pigtails and a dress that Mahiru had seen Mikuni fawn over more than once. “Where did you get that?” Mahiru asked.

“I’m secretly a thug,” Sakuya told him solemnly. “I sneak out late at night and meet up with my other thug friends, and we go around, looking for our leader’s enemies to get revenge.”

“Really, Sakuya,” Mahiru laughed. “You? A thug?” He rolled his eyes again and shook his head. “Your stories are getting more and more outlandish. I think that you need to major in creative writing instead of mass communication. If you don’t want me to know where you got the doll from, then don’t tell me. It’s okay. I’m glad that you did a good thing.”

Sakuya just grinned at him and sighed. “Nothing ever gets past you, does it, Mahiru?”

Mahiru rolled his eyes. “Don’t sound so disappointed by that. It’s not my fault that I always catch you trying to hide your socks in my hamper so that I’ll wash them for you!”

“It happened one time,” Sakuya exclaimed. “You’re seriously not going to let that go, are you?”

“What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t remind you of your shortcomings constantly?” Mahiru inquired with a small smile. He sighed as he looked down at his watch. They had been sitting there for over twenty minutes already. “I have to go,” Mahiru told him as he abruptly stood up and slung his bag over his shoulder. “I’ll see you later, though.”

Sakuya grinned at him and waved him off. Mahiru turned around and started walking as quickly as he could without running. He was running a bit late, and he had a long distance to cover in only seven minutes.

 

After his biology class finally let out, he sighed in relief and stood up, stretching out his sore muscles. They had become stiff from the position that he had been sitting in: hunched over his desk, trying to write as quickly as his handwriting would legibly let him. He groaned quietly as a loud cracking noise came from his back. That felt amazing.

“Hello, Mahiru!” hearing his name, he spun around and saw Lily walking up to him. The man in question had a bright smile that felt so contagious that he couldn’t help but beam back at him. “I didn’t know that you were in this class!”

“Sadly,” Mahiru said. “Shinohara is impossible!”

“Yeah,” Lily agreed. “I’m getting Misono to tutor me in it. He’s really smart, and took this class when he was still in high-school. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind helping you out too.”

“I wouldn’t want to burden him with it,” Mahiru told him quickly.

“It wouldn’t be a burden to Misono,” Lily told him, waving his hand in dismissal. “He’s already helping me! What’s one other person?”

“I…if you say so,” Mahiru told him. “I guess I can ask him about it tomorrow morning when I see him in Chemistry.”

“So, what are you doing next?” Lily inquired.

“I’m going to look for Mikuni, actually,” Mahiru told him. “Sakuya somehow managed to come across his doll.”

“Really?” Lily asked in surprise. “May I join you?”

“Of course,” Mahiru agreed. He motioned for him to walk forward and then moved to walk in stride next to him.

He saw something sticking outside of Lily’s bag at the part where one would stick their pens and pencils. It was a folded sheet of paper. It fell to the ground a moment later. Not wanting to be a litterbug, he turned around and picked it up. “You dropped this,” Mahiru told him.

“Huh?” Lily asked, looking puzzled. He grabbed the paper from Mahiru and opened it up. His puzzled look morphed into a frown. He blinked a couple of times, staring at the sheet. “What?”

“What is it?” Mahiru inquired. He didn’t mean to sound so nosey, but oh well.

“N—nothing,” Lily stuttered. He moved to fold up the sheet again, but his hands were shaking slightly and it ended up falling out of his hands. While it was floating back to the ground, Mahiru saw _I’ve finally found you, big brother_ written in sloppy handwriting across the sheet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, the story is going to pick up some speed from here and things are about to hit the fan! I can't wait to write it.


End file.
